Partnerships & Community Support

Thanks to the wide network of strategic partners and individuals who give their time, talents and amazing ideas to help make this project fly…

We are very grateful to all the people and organisations that have helped us so far, why not join us?

Local Support

The Trust has strong local community support for its plans to save the house. Many people within the Dumfries community have a real love of Moat Brae and can remember visiting it as a child or working there more recently when it was a Nursing Home – in 2013 the Trust published a booklet of Moat Brae Memories using the stories of more than 30 local people.

In 2011 the freehold purchase of Moat Brae was completed, entirely funded from the community and by local family trusts.

A wide range of community groups have also shown huge support for Moat Brae helping to volunteer their services to prepare the house and garden for open days and particularly in staging events and using their creative talents to raise funds for us. See some of their stories here.

Consultation

Consultation on the future of the property has attracted a great deal of positive input:

* in August 2009 a public meeting held to discuss the future of Moat Brae was attended by over 200 people and over 1000 took part in the subsequent Options Appraisal Study in 2010.

* a questionnaire launched in October 2013 on future activities in the house and garden elicited more than 300 overwhelmingly positive responses from individuals both locally and UK-wide as well as local businesses. Face-to-face discussions with local teachers and school groups have been similarly supportive.

* since the completion of Phase A restoration work on the house, a series of Open Days was held at Moat Brae. Since 2014 more than 3500 local, national and international visitors visited the house and garden and enjoyed tours led by our team of volunteers. Over 95% of people who completed our questionnaires said they were ‘strongly supportive’ or ‘broadly supportive’ of our future plans.

Strategic Partner Organisations

There has been much consultation with future long-termstrategic partner organisations – including Dumfries and Galloway Council, the Crichton University Campus, the Scottish Storytelling Centre, the Scottish Book Trust, the Scottish Poetry Library, Wigtown Book Festival, Seven Stories in Newcastle, the Oxford Story Museum and Great Ormond Street Hospital – as well as with local community bodies and individuals.

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS WHO ARE HELPING TO MAKE THIS DREAM COME TRUE